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France Passes Internet Piracy Law

Gives illegal downloaders three warnings and then pulls the Internet plug for up to a year.

France yesterday passed a very tough "Creativity and Internet" intellectual property piracy law that is more stringent than the EU's own code, and may contradict it in some respects. The French law gives illegal downloaders three warnings and then can pull the Internet plug for up to a year. The law was expected to pass, but was voted down recently in a sparsely attended session of the French Parliament. The Socialist party says it will appeal, according to media reports.

 

Wayne E. Hanson served as a writer and editor with e.Republic from 1989 to 2013, having worked for several business units including Government Technology magazine, the Center for Digital Government, Governing, and Digital Communities. Hanson was a juror from 1999 to 2004 with the Stockholm Challenge and Global Junior Challenge competitions in information technology and education.